


Missing Kevin

by Chibifukurou



Category: Ben 10
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-20
Updated: 2010-12-20
Packaged: 2017-10-13 22:05:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/142205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chibifukurou/pseuds/Chibifukurou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nobody saw Kevin for a while after he left the Mr. Smoothie. [Spoilers: Takes place after Absolute Power.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Missing Kevin

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Xparrot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xparrot/gifts).



> Thank you hugs and kisses to Elfwreck and family for all your help!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This story was written for personal enjoyment and entertainment purposes.

"You are going to have to apologize to her eventually, you know," Ben said.

Kevin glared at him over his slushie. He'd just taken a huge sip, which was of course why Ben had chosen that exact moment to comment on his affairs; Kevin would have cussed him out otherwise. He swallowed the whole sip and got brain freeze for his trouble. "Jerk."

"Come on, that wasn't even a little bit of the revenge I owe you."

That was a point, not that he was going to let Ben hold it over his head for long. "Why should I apologize? She knows I wasn't at fault."

"She might know that, but she still stood up for you, even when she should have just let me take you out."

"See, she knows." Kevin crossed his arms and slumped back into the booth in the 'I'm cool enough to get away with anything' pose he'd long since perfected.

Ben didn't seem to be buying it. He just kept nattering on about his lack of respect. "It still wouldn’t hurt you to show a little gratitude. She almost died trying to protect you, and you nearly drained her of all her powers. She is a Anodite; if she'd lost all of her power there was a chance that it would have killed her."

Kevin got very interested in his slushie. He hadn't thought about it like that.

Ben kicked him in the shin to get his attention."Tell me you wouldn't prefer me killing you, to letting you hurt her."

"You still didn't have to hit me that hard."

Ben snorted. "Like you weren't hitting me back just as hard.

"Well if you weren't such a pussy." Kevin couldn't help but smirk at Ben's constipated frown. Being called a pussy always got under Tennyson's skin.

Unfortunately Ben shrugged his annoyance off, instead of getting distracted by a shouting match, like Kevin had planned." You really do need to get to work on that apology. At least you do if you want to convince my Aunt and Uncle to let you date Gwen, ever again. Not to mention how much you're going to have to do to make up for smashing Grandpa's RV."

"Hey, that wasn't my fault. You were the one who threw me into it. You should be the one to fix it."

"Like hell. You're the one who went berserk and picked a fight with my grandpa and you're definitely the one who trashed Gwen's house."

***

Much as Kevin hated to admit it, Ben did have a point. He had some heavy making up to do to get people to trust him again. He'd finally managed to make up for all the stupid things he'd done when he was a kid, finally started to earn back his mom's trust and make peace with his step-dad. Now he was back to square one.

Still he didn't do mushy stuff. He wasn't going to go to his knees and beg for anyone's forgiveness. He'd proven that he could be a good guy once; he'd do it again, even if it took years.

And next time Ben tried to convince him to help hack the Omnitrex, he was going to tell him to fuck off. Kevin had more than enough of being a mindless monster. He hated the Hunger.

***

Nobody saw Kevin for a while after he left the Mr. Smoothie.

Ben figured that he needed to take some time to get his head on straight. He knew all too well what it felt like to have an alien mind taking over. He had the Omnitrex to ease the transition and keep his mind from being fully controlled; he didn't want to think about how crazy he'd have ended up if he actually had been taken over by the alien consciousness.

He figured that Gwen understood it best, since her Anodite side had a way of getting away from her.

***

Max figured that Kevin was too scared to face what he'd done and didn't blame the kid for running off. He'd been dealing with aliens a lot longer than the kids. He knew that they didn't always think like humans. Max just didn't know if a part-alien boyfriend was something he wanted for his granddaughter.

Verdona had broken his heart when she'd chosen to run back to the stars instead of facing her problems. Gwen deserved a more stable partner than that.

***

Harvey didn't expect Kevin to come back and he didn't really want him to. He wasn't scared of Kevin anymore but that didn't mean that he wanted Kevin back in his or his wife's life. He knew that it wasn't Kevin's fault that he went crazy; his wife had explained the consequences of Kevin's abilities, but that didn't mean that he could trust his step-son.

Something always happened, either by accident or design, that sent Kevin spiraling into madness. And enough was enough. He loved his wife and he didn't want to see her worrying herself to death over Kevin's latest antics.

Still, he knew that if he made a fuss, his wife would kick him out rather than lose her son again, so he held his tongue and prayed that Kevin never came home again.

***

Gwen didn't worry about Kevin like Ben and her grandpa did. She knew that he was safe, even if he wasn't ready to come back to her yet. She loved him and she was willing to wait until he was ready to come back to her.

He wasn't ready to be tied down yet and neither was she. She'd be going off to school at the end of the year and Kevin wouldn't have been able to follow her, even if he'd never gone insane. They had talked about having a long-distance relationship, about how Kevin would always look after her even when he wasn't really around.

And he was keeping his promise.

At least once a week a gift would appear her in her room.

Two days after Kevin had disappeared, a pair of lucky cat earrings showed up with a note simply saying "I'm sorry." A week after that, she found a black rose on her pillow; four days after that, it was a picture of Kevin leaning against his car, the red desert stretching out behind him. He'd written "Miss you" on the back.

Tonight was going to be special, though; it was her eighteenth birthday and she knew that he wouldn't leave her hanging. She cracked the door to her bedroom open and peeked inside; the window was open, the curtains flapping in the breeze.

Kevin had already come for his nightly visit. Now she just had to figure out what he'd left her.

She stepped into the room, turned on the light, and found Kevin sitting on her bed, a pleased smirk on his face.

She was across the room and kissing him before she even thought about it. Kevin's gifts had been nice but they weren't as good as having him here.

Kevin pulled away from her after a few seconds, though he kept an arm wrapped around her waist. "Did you miss me?"

Gwen punched his shoulder and whispered, "Don't be stupid."

Then she pulled him into another kiss.


End file.
